Related Galleries

One of the key benefits of a mirrorless camera is that it can be smaller than a DSLR while still offering the benefits of a bigger sensor and interchangeable lenses.

Of course, not all mirrorless models exploit this advantage. Some are roughly the size of a DSLR — or at least big enough that the size doesn’t make too much of a difference. Others are way too small, punting manual controls and important settings into their navigation menus due to limited surface area. The latter usually have an awkward, lens-heavy weight distribution because they’re so tiny.

The Olympus OM-D E-M10 feels just about right. It’s 1.8-inches deep, 3.2-inches tall, 4.7-inches wide, and it weighs less than a pound. It’s small enough to feel really compact, but big enough to offer a sizeable hand grip and physical knobs and buttons for its manual controls — things like a mode dial and two top-mounted control wheels for adjusting exposure settings. Another rarity for a camera this size? A pop-up flash, which surrounds a top-mounted accessory hot shoe.

Somehow, Olympus has even found room for a 1.4-million-dot eye-level electronic viewfinder. The new camera also has a tilting 3-inch touchscreen around the back, which can be used for more-cellphone-like operation, such as touching an area to focus and shoot.

It’s the lowest-end camera in Olympus’ OM-D lineup, but it shares a few good traits with its higher-end siblings, the OM-D E-M1 and OM-D E-M5. It has the same sensor and super fast autofocus speeds as those cameras, as well as built-in Wi-Fi for controlling the camera from and offloading images to a smartphone or tablet. And like Olympus’ recent PEN and OM-D cameras, it has an extensive range of HDR and “Art Filter” modes, which are some the best in the camera business.

The price seems just right, too. At $700 for the body only and $800 as a kit with a 14-42mm/F3.5-5.6 lens, it’s priced to compete with premium point-and-shoot cameras and entry-level DSLRs.